9 Foods That Could Be Giving You Diarrhea

It's not pleasant to talk about, and it's even less pleasant to deal with, but everyone experiences watery stools occasionally. Most bouts of diarrhea are caused by a virus or bacteria, but certain foods can also send you running for the bathroom. "The best way to investigate which foods are making your symptoms worse is to keep a food diary," says Shilpa Ravella, MD, a gastroenterologist and assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. If you can pinpoint the foods that are triggering your tummy troubles, you may be able to spare yourself some discomfort. Here are a few common culprits. (Lose up to 15 pounds WITHOUT dieting with Eat Clean to Get Lean, our 21-day clean-eating meal plan)

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Sugar substitutes

Sugar-free snacks and chewing gum may help satisfy your sweet tooth, but many contain sugar substitutes that can also act as a laxative. "Sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, and sorbitol can contribute to diarrhea and bloating based on how your body metabolizes them in the gut," says Bhavesh Shah, MD, the medical director of Interventional Gastroenterology at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in California.

If your morning cuppa is promptly followed by a morning rush to the bathroom, you're not alone. "Coffee can cause diarrhea in some people," Ravella says. "The caffeine can stimulate the gut to contract more quickly than it normally does, so food moves through faster and isn't absorbed as well." The acidity of coffee can also worsen the symptoms of some digestive disorders. (This is your body on coffee.)

If you have a few too many during a night out, you may wake up with an upset stomach the next day. "This is often a symptom that accompanies a hangover," Shah says. "Alcohol is an irritant. Your gut may not agree with drinking a large amount." Booze also speeds up digestion, which affects your body's ability to absorb water—hence the watery stools when you're hung over.

According to the National Institutes of Health, as many as 50 million American adults may be lactose intolerant. If your stomach goes rogue when you eat milk, cheese, or yogurt, you may be one of them. "Common symptoms, which begin about 30 minutes to two hours after consuming foods containing lactose, may include nausea, cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhea," Shah says.

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Wheat, rye, and barley

Gluten—a mix of proteins found in wheat, rye, and barley—can cause diarrhea and bloating for some people, but the good news is that gluten sensitivity is relatively rare. Still, if you feel like wheat may be wreaking havoc on your digestive system, keep a food diary and look for patterns: Are you sick every time you eat bread or pasta? "If you think you have gluten intolerance, it's important to see a gastroenterologist to make sure you don't have celiac disease," Ravella says. For people with this autoimmune disorder, gluten can do serious damage by causing the body to attack the lining of the small intestine.

Bear with us, because this acronym is a doozy. FODMAPs are fermentable oligo-, di-, and monosaccharides, and polyols. In layman's terms, they're a group of carbs and sugar alcohols that are tough to digest, especially for people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). "FODMAPs are poorly absorbed in the small intestine," Ravella says, and that can lead to gas, bloating, and diarrhea. Cutting back on high-FODMAP foods may help improve IBS symptoms like diarrhea.

Some people can eat jalapeños like they're candy, while others feel their stomach churn at the mere sight of a chile pepper. "Each individual is unique when it comes to tolerating spicy foods," Ravella says. "Spicy foods can irritate the lining of the stomach and intestines, causing food to move more quickly through the gastrointestinal tract, which results in loose stools." If you don't eat spicy food often, she adds, you're more likely to feel the burn when you do.

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Fast food

If you need motivation to skip the drive-thru window, consider that greasy takeout grub can be hard on your gut. "In general, all fats can be harder to digest, but the worst culprits are greasy, fried foods typically found at fast food restaurants," Ravella says. "You're less likely to have issues when eating healthy fats from whole foods, like avocados." Greasy fries, on the other hand, don't really pack any nutritional benefits—so if they bother your belly, just skip them.

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